Author: Rosamund Hodge
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Re-telling, Romance
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Summary: Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny. Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him. With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people. But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her. As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.
Review: I first read Cruel Beauty shortly after it was released and just recently picked it up and re-read it and let me tell you, this book was just as mind-blowing the second time as it was the first. Beauty and the Beast is also one of my favorite fairy-tales and if you don't like it, well . . . I feel bad for you. Also:
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ANYWAY! Don't let the summary and other reviews fool you, this is not your traditional Beauty and the Beast re-telling. Cruel Beauty is darker than many of the books I've read recently. Hodge weaved together an incredible world that is utterly beautiful and fascinating yet one I'm glad I do not live in.
Nyx is an amazing main character; strong, smart, and at times, evil. I enjoyed the relationship between her and Ignifex. Reading about Nyx and how she evolves from a girl who's soul purpose was to destroy a man she had never met to caring for him and wanting to free him from a curse that has plagued him for over nine-hundred years = quite an amazing read!!
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The beginning of the book started out a little slow for me but picked up after she arrived at her new home (approximately Chapter 4). Throughout the book I sometimes felt that more details would have been helpful which is saying something because I'm usually fine without them. I just couldn't get enough! The last 50 or so pages in the book had me confused for a while (especially the first time I read it). I won't spoil it, but I will say that I was definitely re-reading often to try and really grasp what was happening.
Definitely one to consider reading if you're a fan or re-tellings.
Okay, so the previous gif doesn't really make any sense, but I really wanted to use it . . . and it has the Beast in it so at least it is a little relevant!
ANYWAY! Don't let the summary and other reviews fool you, this is not your traditional Beauty and the Beast re-telling. Cruel Beauty is darker than many of the books I've read recently. Hodge weaved together an incredible world that is utterly beautiful and fascinating yet one I'm glad I do not live in.
Nyx is an amazing main character; strong, smart, and at times, evil. I enjoyed the relationship between her and Ignifex. Reading about Nyx and how she evolves from a girl who's soul purpose was to destroy a man she had never met to caring for him and wanting to free him from a curse that has plagued him for over nine-hundred years = quite an amazing read!!
The beginning of the book started out a little slow for me but picked up after she arrived at her new home (approximately Chapter 4). Throughout the book I sometimes felt that more details would have been helpful which is saying something because I'm usually fine without them. I just couldn't get enough! The last 50 or so pages in the book had me confused for a while (especially the first time I read it). I won't spoil it, but I will say that I was definitely re-reading often to try and really grasp what was happening.
Definitely one to consider reading if you're a fan or re-tellings.
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